Chair.



30 forward and backward movement of the U ITED sTA E-s "PATENT OFFIGE.

AN'roN G. EYLES, oFonDAn'RArIDs, IowA, ASSIGNOR or ONE I-IALF TO JOHN H. LEE,

' v OFIOAK PARK, ILLINOIS.

CHAIR.

Application file'dAugust 23, 1911. Serial No. 645,526.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that l, AN'rorrG. EYLEs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cedar Rapids, in the county o-f'Linn and State of Iowa,'have invented a new and useful Improvement in Chairs, of which the following is a specification. I

My invention relates particularly to chairs adapted to be adjusted to accommodate the occupant in a reclining position; and my primary object is to provide a simplified construction which is thoroughly durable and perfectly adapted to 'itspurpose, and which may, nevertheless, be manufactured at an exceedingly low cost.

The invention is illustrated in its preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawing, in which I Figure 1 represents a vertical sectional view of a chair constructed in accordance with my improvements, the section being taken as indicated at line 1 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 2, a broken horizontal section taken as indicated at line 2 of'Fig. 1.

In the illustration given, A represents a frame comprising side memloer-s 1 and front and rear cross-members 2 and 3 respectively,

joining said side-members; B, a seathaving its front. portion mounted on the frame through the medium of links 4, to permit seat with relation to the frame; C, a back; and D, D, my improved back and seat mountings, equipped with means for latching or looking the back with relation to the seat.

The mountings D. andD are similar to each other, except that the mounting D is equipped with means for latching or securing the back with relation tothe seat. The

mounting D comprises an angular framecarried clip 5; a back-attaching arm 6 connected at an intermediate portion with the clip 5 by means of'a pivot'7 a seat-attaching arhi 8, whose rear. end is connected with the arm 6 by means of'a pivot 9; a ratchetbar, or latch-link, 10, whose rear end is connected by a pivot 11 with a downward extension 12 of the arm 6; and a keeper, or

combination guide and locking member, 13

carried by the front portion of the arm 8, and through which the ratchet-bar 10 ex tends. The mounting D is the same, except that the extension 12 is omitted from Specification of Letters Patent.

. Patented J uly 23, 1912.

the arm 6', and the ratchet-bar lOand coactlng keeper 13 are omitted. The parts of the mounting D which correspond with r the parts-of the mounting D are similarly back by means of screws 18. The front por tion of each arm 8 is rigidly secured to the rear portion of the corresponding side-member of theseat-frameby means of screws 19. The disposition of the seat and back are such that the rear portion of the seat-cushion partly overlaps th'elower portion of theback-cushion; and the arms-8 project rearward ly from the seat and lap over the front edge-portions ofthe' arm 6-,.where they are mounted on the pivots'9l The angle-form clips 5 are preferably sosecur ed to the rear legs of'the frame that the forwardly turned flanges 17 will be'spaced a short distance inside of thelegs' 16, thus leaving ample room for the working'of thefixtures. The rear portions of the arms 8 are-'ofl'set outwardly from the planes oft-he 'sides'of the seat, so that they will overlap the platesor arms 6,

the offsets beingdesignated at 20.

'The ratchet-bar '10 has its; lower edge equippedv with forwardly-pointing teeth 21, the spaces or notches between which" are adapted to receive the'lowerleg 22 of'the staple-form keeper"13. Thus the lower leg of the staple affords a locking shoulder, while the upper legofthe'staple serves to limit the swinging motion of the member 10. i r

The front toothof the ratchet Jis preferably shortened, and adjacent to itis a recess which affords a shoulder 23, which is adapted to positively limit the rearward movement of the ratchet-bar 10, thus preventing the back 0 from swinging forward beyond the position shown in Fig. 1.

' The linkse have their lower'ends connected, by meansof pivots 24, with the side members 1 of the frame just in the rear of the cross-member 2, and havetheir upper ends connected, by pivots 25,w1th the molemembers of the seat-frame. The llnks 1ncline rearwardl y and upwardly, so that.

when the seat is occupied its tendency is to move rearwardly, thereby imparting a rearwardthrust to the lower end of the back. This thrust is resisted by the locking shoulder 23 of the ratchet-bar when the structure is in the position shown in Fig. 1, and as the lower leg 22 0f the staple 13 is, in this position, engaged by the front tooth of the ratchet-bar, the back is locked in the upright position. The front end of the ratchet-bar has an upwardly-turned arm, or handle, :26 which is adapted to play between the seat and adjacent side-member of the frame. The handle is produced by curving the fiat ratchet-bar edgewise at a point in front of the keeper 13. It is practically hidden between the seat-cushion and the side of the frame, its upper end being preferably located somewhat below the upper surface of the cushion; but the handle is nevertheless readily accessible to the occupant of the chair.

A person may be seated in the chair while the back is secured in the standing position; and when. the person desires to move the back to a reclining position, he may accomplish this purpose by lifting the front end of the ratchet-bar through the medium of the handle 26, thus unlocking it, then by leaning against the chair-back, the chair-back will be swung rearwardly, thus elevating the rear portion of the seat and at the same time imparting a forward thrust to the seat, which causes the front end to be carried forwardly by the links 4. At any desired position. the occupant may depress the handle 26, thereby bringing a tooth of-the ratchet-bar into engagement with the lower leg of the staple 13, thereby locking the back against further lowering movement. The rearward swing of the seat may be continued until the seat and back are brought practically into alinement. if desired, it being understood that the rear portion of the seat is elevated in this action. since the pivots 9 swing in arcs about the pivots 7 of the back. 1

The metal fixtures. or mountings, for the back and seat may be manufactured at an exceedingly low cost in a factory equipped forthe purpose; and these fixtures may be sold to the manufacturing trade. that is to furniture manufacturers, with satisfactory profit, at a price so low as to enable chairs to be thus equipped withbut small additional cost. The improved fixtures thus serve as substitutes for much-more complex and expensive fixtures. and with improved results. The fixtures may be stamped from steel bars, or from sheet-metal.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only. and no undue limitation should be understood therefrom. but the appended claims should be construed as broadly as permissible in view of the prior art.

What I regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a chair of the character set forth, the combination of a frame, a back, a seat having its front end mounted to permit forward and rearward movement of the seat, clips carried by the frame, arms pivotally secured to said clips and securely attached to the lower portion of the back, arms securely attached at their front portions to the seat and pivotally attached at their rear portions to said first-named arms, a downward extension carried by one of said firstnamed arms, a latch-link pivotally connected with said extension and provided with a plurality of locking shoulders, and a keeper for said latch-link carried by the corresponding seat-attached arm.

2. In a chair of the character set forth, the combination of a frame, a seat having its front end mountedto permit forward and rearward movement of the seat, a back pivoted above its lower end to the frame and pivotally joined at its lower end to the rear portion of the seat, a latch-link having its rear end mounted on a back-carried pivot beneath the junction of said seat and back, and a seat-carried keeper for said latch-link provided with a. locking shoulder, said latch link having an upwardly-disposed handle at its front end and having also a series of notches adapted to engage the locking shoulder of the keeper.

3. A back and seat mounting for chairs comprising a frame-attaching clip, a backattaching arm pivotedat an intermediate point thereon. a seat-attaching arm having its rear end pivoted to said first-named arm between its pivotal point and lower end, a guide carried by the front portion of said second-named arm and having a locking shoulder, and a latch-link pivoted at its rear end to, the lower end of said firstnamed arm and extending through said guide and equipped at its front end with a handle for effecting release of the latch-link from said locking shoulder.

4. In a chair of thecharacter set forth, the combination of a frame. a seat having itsfront end mounted to permit movement of the seat, a back pivoted above its lower end to the frame. pivotal connections between the lower end of said back and the rear end of said seat, a latch-bar having its rear end pivotally connected to said back and provided witha series of locking-notches and having a handle accessible between the seat and adjacent side of the frame. and a keeper carried by the seat and provided with a shoulder co-act-ing with said notches.

5. In a. chair of the character set forth, the combination of a frame. a back. a seat, rearwardly and upwardly inclined links connecting the front portion of said seat with the front portion of said frame, clips carriedby the frame, arms pivotally secured to saidclips and securely attached to the lower portion of the back, arms securely attached at their front portions to the seat and pivotally attached at their rear portions to said first-named arms, a downward extension carried by one of said first-named arms, a

latch-bar having its rear end pivotally con nected to said extension and having a se 10 ries of locking notches and provided with an' upturned front extremity serving as a handle accessible between the seat and adjacent side of the frame, and a keeper mounted on the adjacent seat-attached arm and provided with a shoulder co-acting with 15 said notches.

I ANTON G, EYLES. In presence of-' v 1 a R.YA. SCEZAEFER, JOHN WILSON. 

